Pneumatic pump-dredge.



-W. J. LITTLEHALES.

PNEUMATIC PUMP DREDGE.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.12. 1915.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

` T111: conumnm vLANm-.mwu 11n.A wAsHlNn'roN. n. c.

W. I. LITILEHALES.

l PNEuMAnc PUMP DRI-:065.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I2, I9I5. 4

Patented Apr. 2 5,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE COLUMBIA PLAIOURAPH CC.A WASHINGTON, '0, c`

m m w WILLIAM J. LITTLEI-IALES, OF DICKINSON, NORTH DAKOTA.

rivnnifiarrcV PUMP-Damen.

insonni.

Application led March 12, 1915.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. LITTLE- IIALns, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Dickinson, in the county of Stark and State of NorthDakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PneumaticPumpeDredges; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to pneumatic pump dredges, and has for its objectto provide an apparatus of this nature which will be comparativelyinexpensive to construct and more eflicient and certain in action thanthose that have been heretofore proposed.

'Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists in thenovel details of construction and combinations of parts, more fullyhereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification in which like numerals designate like parts in all theviews- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view partly brokenaway of an apparatus made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view partly in elevation of the parts shown inFig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail partly sectional view of the lowerend of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side eleva` tionalview of the parts shown in Fig. 3 but seen in a direction at rightangles to the plane on which Fig. 3 is taken; Fig. 5 is an enlargeddetail sectional view of the upper portion of the apparatus shown inFig. 1; and Fig. 6 is a plan view partly in section of the parts shownin Fig. 5.

1 indicates any suitable pipe preferably made in sections joinedtogether as by the flanges 2.

3 indicates a delivery of any suitable construction from the pipe 1 and4 a pipepreferably located inside the pipe 1 adapted to convey air to apoint near the lower end 5 of said pipe 1.

6 indicates any suitable pipe for supplying air to the system, 7 a valvecontrolling the admission of air to the pipe 4, 8 a pressure gageconnected with the pipe 4 and 9 a valve rod extending through the `pipe4 from one end to the other and connected with the valve 10 at the lowerendof said pipe 4 as best shown in Figs. 2 and'B,

Specification of Letters Patent.

`lll'atented Apr. 25, 1916.

Serial No. 14,034.

The upper end of the pipe 1 is closed by any suitable plug such as 1.2and this said plug l2 may be provided with the internal sleeve or collar13 screw threaded into the plug 12 and itself receiving the internal andexternal screw threaded sleeve 14 in which the screw threaded portion 15of the pipe 4 fits. The extreme upper end of the pipe 4 is provided withthe stuiing box 16 through which the valve rod 9 passes and the screwthreaded plug member 12 is provided with the yoke like members 17 havinga seat 18 through which said valve rod 9 also passes and on which restsa spring 20. The upper end of the valve rod 9 is provided with thethimble like member 21 against which the upper end of the spring 20rests and in which fits the internal screw threaded thimble like member22, as shown. The extreme upper end 23 of the valve rod 9 is screwthreaded as shown and fits the interior of the said thimble 22, and alsoreceives the locking member 24 to hold said rod 9 in its adjustedposition against the compression of the said spring 20. rIVhe saidextreme end 23 of the rod 9 is also provided with the hand wheel orother member 25 for adjusting said rod 9 up and down as will be readilyunderstood. The rod 9 may be conveniently made in sections joinedtogether as at 26, and it may be screw threaded at its extreme lower end2S and joined to the valve 10, or it may be otherwise rigidly attachedthereto.

The extreme lower end of theair pipe 4 is conveniently provided with thevalve member 30 having the spider or bridge member 31 through which thelower end of the rod 9 passes and also provided with the valve seatmember 32, screwed or otherwise attached to the said member 30 andpreferably having the inclined valve seat 33 against which the valve 10fits, as shown.

The parts just disclosed constitute in themselves an effective air liftpump, in that when the pipe 1 is lo-wered beneath the surface of waterin a well. or in the ocean, and air is admitted through the pipes 6 and4 with a pressure sufficient to unseat the valve 10, the said air willescape upwardly beneath the surface of the water and force the water upthrough the pipe 1 and out of the delivery 3 in a well-known manner.

The dredge portion proper of my invention consists of the followingparts: Connected to the air supply 6 is a `second air pipe 35 providedwith a valve 36, and eX- tending down beneath the eXtreme lower end 5 ofthe pipe 1, where it enters the air chamber 37, as shown. This said airchamber is conveniently fo-rmed of a separate casting fitting theextreme lower end or foot of the dredge and is conveniently providedwith the rests or shoes 38 in order to form a convenient support for thechamber 37. The extreme lower end 5 of the pipe 1 is preferably fiaredas shown, and may be conveniently provided with a curved elbow likemember 39 with a perforated bottom 40 oommunicating with the air chamber37. The elbow member 39 is also conveniently provided with an extendedlip member 41 projecting slightly beyond the upper portion of the elbowmember 39 and also slightly beyond the mouth or delivery 42 of the saidchamber 37. The chamber 37 is conven` iently secured to the elbow member39 as by the bolts 43, and the perforated bottom 40 is preferablyinclined as shown and the orifices 44 are also preferably inclined withrespect to the bottom 40 as illustrated, in order that the air may bedirected upwardly into the pipe 1.

yThe operation of the dredge portion of the invention will be readilyunderstood but may be briefly summarized as follows: lhen air underpressureis admitted from the source 6 into'the pipe 35 it partly escapesfrom the chamber 37 through the orifices 44 and partly through the eXitor mouth 42. That portion of the air escaping through the mouth 42serves to stir up the sand, mud, mineral or other material beingdredged, and to force it away from the extending lip 41, whereupon itmeets with the resistance of the surrounding water and tends to curvebackward into the mouth of the elbow member 39. In the meantiue thelower end 5 of the pipe 4 is moved forward so that the lip 41 constantlyseeks new material to be thus stirred up or dislodged andY thel actionproceeds. As fast as the material thusl stirred up is received into theelbow member 39 it is caught by the air leaving the orifices 44 and isforced upward along the pipe l and is discharged through the pipe 3 intoa boat or any other receptacle that may be provided. Of course thelsuction created by the air leaving the valve 10 tends to draw thedislodged material surrounding the lip 41 into the mouth of the elbow,and therefore when a considerable volume of air is fed to the apparatusa large volume of material will be lifted.

Itis evident that as stated above, when it is not desired to dislodgematerial. at the bottom or when it is only desired to pump water orsand, air from the pipe4 35 may be entirely out off and air through thepipe 4 may be employed to operate the device as an air lift pump.

Vhen operating the apparatus as a dredge however it is convenient tosuspend it from any suitable apparatus, such as a derricl, not shown,carried by a boat and from which a line may be extended to a collar suchas 50. And in order to conveniently drag the device over the bottom asecond line 54 is attached to a collar 51 near the bottom member 5 tomove it in one direction and a third line 55 may be attached to theother end 52 of the collar 51 to move it in the opposite direction, aswill be clear from the drawings. The pipe 35 may be made in sections andjoined together as at 57 and the pipe 4 may be likewise made insectio-ns and joined together as at 5S. It will thus be seen that byfollowing the construction above disclosed I provide a dredge pump,which may employ any suitable air pressure and therefore may be made ofgreat power and strength, while at the same time itslower end may dragover the bottom in deep waterk and thus bring up minerals, sand, mud orother material in a most efficient manner.

V My improved dredge should be carefully distinguished from the dredgesheretofore proposed, in that it provides air under pressure deliveredthrough the pipe 35 to lift gravel, stones, etc., after they have beendislodged by the lip 42, and this said compressed air gives them anacceleration or imparts to them a velocity alo-ng with the ascendingcolumn of water, which takes them well into the influence of the secondcolumn of air under pressure delivered through the pipe 4, which furtheraccelerates the water, gravel, stones, etc., and which already aremoving at a considerable velocity, so that the said gravel, stones,ctc., can be liftedv to relatively great heights depending of courseentirely upon the amount of air pressure in the respective pipes 4 and35. In other words, when suction alone is employed on dredges as hasbeen heretofore customary, the height to which the water itself can` belifted is limited, and heavy particles such as gravel, stones, etc., canonly be lifted to much less heights. It results from this tha-t inlcomparatively deep sea dredging for gold and other precious minerals thesuction dredges are not adapted to bring up the minerals in a manner asefficient as is mine, even in shallow water, andthe said suction dredgescannot operate at all in water as deep as my dredge operates when thepressure is increased. As a matter of fact, in suction dredges heavystones. soon settle back to the bottom of the dredge while in myapparatus the same stones can easily be liftedl from a depth of 200 feetof water andover. Further, owing tothe fact that when the column ofwater has once been accelerated to a high velocity as it soon is in mydredge, owing to the multiple air columns under pressure, this saidwater possesses considerable force in carrying the stones, gravel, etc.,along with it, so that the momentum imparted to said stones is utilizedin lifting the same well out of the dredge and into the boat or otherreceptacle provided for them. lt therefore follows that owing to themultiple air lifts spaced apart along the dredge pipe l my dredgeoperates to lift stone, gravel, etc., just as well in deep water as dosuction dredges in comparatively shallow water, and that it will liftminerals from depths that suction dredges cannot lift at all.

rlhe above mentioned accelerated action is fa cilitated by the annularspace between the pipes et and l5 combined with the annular form of thecompressed air discharge from around the valve seat 33 into said annularspace. ln other words, the tapered valve seat combined with the taperedvalve l0, causes the compressed air to move upward and outward fillingsaid annular space and striking the inside walls of the pipe l, thusaccelerating the water, stones and gravel in the manner disclosed above.llhe said valve l() may loe adjusted through the means shown to thatheight above the perforations la that is found to produce the bestresults on the material being dredged.

Ars a mattei' of fact a fair limit for dipper and bucket dredges is onlyabout forty or fifty feet of water in practical use, whereas in mydredge two hundred feetand over is easily reached, and minerals broughtup as satisfactorily as in much mo-re shallow water.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that the valvel0 is provided with the controlling spring 20, which keeps it normallyseated when the pressure is not suflicient to overcome the force of thespring, and therefore keeps sand from settling in the lower end of thepipe a. That is to say, as is well known to those familiar with theoperation of air lifting pumps, when pumping mud or sand the pipe lbeing full of material thel sand will natu- .'ally settle toward thebottom when the pump is stoppedJ lt therefore follows that should theair be cut olf in the pipe la certain portion of the sand will be ofcourse carried up into the pipe 4 which will settle at the bottom of thepipe t and clog it up unless some means is taken to prevent it. The sameaction occurs to a greater or less extent when the pressure in the pipeLl falls somewhat below the pressure of the head of water on the outsideof the pipe l. In other words, when operating pumps of this kind if thepressure varies to any great extent in the pipe 4, sand is liable tostop up the bottom of said pipe 4 unless special precau tions are takenand when such stoppage occurs it gives rise to a great deal of annoy-.always closed to the admission of sand.

That is to say, when the valve l0 is opened air is escaping past it, andno sand can enter, while when air is not passing the valve 10 the springautomatically closes the said valve and still no sand can enter. ltresults from this that a pump provided with an automatic valve such asl0 is not subject to break downs and annoying stoppages which areexperienced by the pumps heretofore proposed.

In order to regulate the pressure necessary to unseat the valve l0 lprovide the ad justing hand wheel. 25 on the upper end of the valve rod9,- and l further provide the locking nut member or lever 24 to hold thevalve l0 under the particular pressure to which it has been adjusted.

lt is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction, as well as the arrangements of parts without departingfrom the spirit of my invention and therefore lf do not wish to belimited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

`What l claim is:

l. In a pneumatic dredge, the combination of a conduit pipe for thedredged material having a downwardly flaring lower end, an elbow memberon said lower end provided with a lateral receiving opening and with adownwardly inclined bottom eX- tending past such opening to form aydownwardly inclined projecting lipn said bottom being provided with aseries of apertures inclined to direct air jets upwardly through saidelbow member to said conduit pipe, an air chamber communicating withsuoli apertures and provided with an exit for directing air underpressure against the lower face of said downwardly inclined lip.` meansfor supplying air under pressure to said chamber, and means within thelower end of said conduit pipe for directing air under 'pressureupwardly in the path of the air jets from such inclined apertures ofsaid bottom* 2. ln a pneumatic dredge, the combination of a conduit pipefor the dredged material having a downwardly iiaring lower end, an elbowmember on said lowerend provided with a lateral receiving opening andwith a downwardly inclined bottom ex! ite tending past such opening toform a downwardly inclined projecting lip, said bottom being providedwith a series of apertures inclined to direct air jets upwardly throughsaid elbow member to said conduit pipe, an air chamber communicatingwith such apertures and provided with an exit for directing air underpressure against the lower face of said downwardly inclined lip, an airpipe within the lower end of said conduit pipe for directing air underpressure upwardly in the path of the air jets from such inclinedapertures of said bottom, means for supplying air under pressure to saidair pipe and bottom chamber, and independent means for controlling suchair supply to said pipe and chamber.

3. In a pneumatic dredge, the combination of a conduit pipe providedwith a liaring lower end, means for directing a series of air jets intosaid iaring end for feeding the dredged material thereto, an air pipeopening within the lower end of said conduit pipe for directing airunder pressure upwardly in the path of such series of air jets, an airvalve controlling the opening of said air pipe, adjustable means forautomatically closing said air valve at any predetermined pressurewithin said nir pipe, and means accessible at the upper end of saidconduit pipe for adjusting said automatic valve-closing means.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature, in presence of a witness.

VILLIAM J. LITTLEHALES.

Witness T. A. VVrrHnRsrooN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ZD. C.

